At least 120 killed, 200 injured in Patna-Indore express derailment

A view of a derailed train in Kanpur in this still image taken from video November 20, 2016.Reuters

At least 120 people died in Pukhrayan near Kanpur after 14 coaches of a Patna-Indore express derailed. Relief and rescue operations are underway and the death toll is expected to increase.

Bodies of 30 people have been recovered so far from the accident spot, said Inspector-General Kanpur, Zaki Ahmed. At least 76 people are severely injured.

Doctors and senior railway officials have arrived at the location, said Northern Central Railways spokesperson Vijay Kumar. District administration officials also reached the spot for rescue and relief operations.

The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav, has directed the DGP to monitor the relief operations personally.

"Senior officials and medical team have been rushed to the spot; we are in contact with district officials", said A Saxena, Indian Railways spokesperson.

15: 28 pm IST: Kanpur train tragedy is one of the biggest rail accident ever. According to information it was a rail fracture, but rescue operations still underway, said Sumitra Mahajan.

14: 44 pm IST: Unfortunate incident; we stand with the families of those who died in the accident, said Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav.

14: 13 pm IST: More than 100 people have died, rescue operation is still underway: Daljeet Singh Chaudhary (ADG, Law & order ,UP).

13:15 pm IST: Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan leaves for Kanpur to meet the injured and take stock of the situation.

12: 45 pm IST: When I was informed about the incident, i directed concerned officials to rush to the spot and conduct primary rescue operations. All resources are in place; priority right now is only to save and rescue as many people as possible. I spoke to Railway Minister and have assured that State Govt will provide whatever help needed in the rescue operations; politics can wait, said UP CM Akhilesh Yadav.

10:23 am IST: Right now we are trying to identify the one's who are injured from Patna so that we can inform the family members, said SP, Railway Police.

10:10 am IST: Enhanced amount of ex-gratia compensation is being given to the victims of this unfortunate accident:Rs.3.5 lakh in case of death. Rs.50,000 in case of grievous injury and Rs.25,000 in case of simple injury. This is in addition to the compensation which will be available through Railway Claims Tribunal, tweeted Suresh Prabhu.

9:59 am IST: People still trapped in coaches, said police officials.

9:57 am IST: Almost 250 jawans including personnel from paramilitary forces have been roped in for rescue operations.

9:17 am IST: The death toll has increased to 63 and over 150 people were injured.Stranded passengers were being moved from accident site to Malasa station. A special train from Malasa will take the passengers further. The injured passengers were moved to Kanpur Dehat hospital, tweeted Suresh Prabhu.

9:09 am IST: Ex gratia will be given to families of dead passenger and to the injured. The reason for the derailment is not known. The enquiry team will start investigation for cause of accident immediately. All necessary assistance has been provided to the affected. Strictest possible action will be taken against those who could be responsible for accident. All possible mobilisation for relief initiated, tweeted Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.

8:52 am IST: UP CM Akhilesh Yadav directed the Uttar Pradesh principal secretary of health to ensure there's no shortage of medicines and blood for treatment of patients.